From Tourist Central to Northern Villages

Touch down at Chiang Rai airport and it was off to start another adventure. We were greeted at the airport by David, the founder of the orphanage, and a few excited smiling faces. Dr. Petrik, Dr. Light, Dr. Rathore and William Light on board, we were ready to see some patients! About twenty of us jumped into a large pick-up truck and we raced to the store to pick out toys for the 100's of children.

After seeing the kids jumping all around to greet us at the orphanage, we were energized to start clinic. Impetigo, tinea versicolor, lice, cough, and the occasional heart murmur were some of the clinical pearls of the day. With no labs or imaging to guide us, the skin became important again and stethanie regained her glory. Mosquito nets in place, we slept soundly.

5 AM.

The sound of little running feet and children laughing began to amplify from all corners of the complex culminating at a central location with beautiful songs and hymns. After their morning assembly, the children went straight to their tasks-cleaning, preparing lunch, getting ready for school, and helping the younger ones.

More much needed high-school children were available to translate in clinic. As the sun set, we prepared the vaccines. 100's of children received vaccination for Japanese Encephalitis, and we came together as a group to make some tough ethical decisions regarding the allocation of limited polio vaccines.

We started to understand our limitations here as we learned more about the immigrational status of these children and the political climate in this region. Nevertheless, we managed to do what we came here to do by way of medical care. Perhaps our most important contribution this year, we are spending much of our day today compiling medical records for teams to use in the future. We haven't presented the toys yet, so much more to come!!

Week 1, Part 2

Sawasdee (Hello) from Thailand, blog-followers!

A few nights ago, we had the pleasure of dining in a Thai home in Bangkok. Helen, a woman who grew up in the "mountain villages" of Burma, actually had a liver transplant at UF/Shands about five years ago. She saw an article about Project Thailand on the Gainesville Sun website, and invited us to an authentic Thai dinner in her beautiful home. From her 16th floor condo, we had a gorgeous view of Bangkok's night skyline. Dinner was absolutely delicious - especially the spicy Tom Yum Goon soup with fresh shrimp. Conversation was equally delicious. By the end, we had all fallen in love with Helen's infectious laugh and positive spirit! Her friends, Sumitmai and Flo, graciously transported us to and from the dinner, and shared lots of entertaining stories as well. We thank Helen for inviting us into her home, and we hope to see her again before we leave next weekend.

Since arriving in Phuket, we have visited the Vachira Hospital and Tacuapa Hospital, where we were moved by stories and images of the tsunami that struck 5 years ago. The healthcare workers there are true heros!

Other highlights include the Acupunture lecture and demonstration on Quincy (!), the Muay Thai boxing match, and lunch at the highest point on Phuket island with an amazing view of the mountains, jungles, and beach. Stay tuned for more photos & updates!

We've arrived in Bangkok!

We finally arrived in Bangkok, after our long, >24 hour trek across the globe! We got into town close to midnight on Sunday night, and everyone was wide awake due to the time change. Thankfully, Khao San Rd (where we're staying) never seems to sleep so we got to catch part of the US-Canada hockey game with some ice cold Chang Beer!

Monday, we were introduced to the Emergency Department at Ramathibodi Hospital Mahidol University. Over the next 2 days, we received lectures about tropical

diseases in SE Asia, advanced airway and RSI, and Thailand's EMS system. We also got to join in on rounds in the emergency room and check out their ambulances. Over the next day, we will learn more about toxicology, pediatrics, and Chinese acupuncture!

Of course, most of us have gone for a Thai massage in the last few days which is quite different from our massages. Let's just say its good to be flexible and its a little more painful! One of the nurse's husband does Thai massage and invited us over to give us a demonstration in its healing properties. Amr was the lucky victim and it was quite entertaining!

ER triage board

Our lab group with Thai students and faculty




Learning about tropical diseases and checking out flukes, worms and parasites

Gmail address

Project Thailand now has a GMAIL address. If you have supplies to donate, or wish to be a sponsor to support our group you can now contact us at
UFProjectThailand@gmail.com.
Supplies we particularly need are pediatric Singulair, and oral medications that don't require refrigeration. Cash donations can be made by check to UF Foundation with Project Thailand in the memo section.
Due to Pharma conflict of interest rules we cannot accept donations from the pharmaceutical companies but healthcare professionals such as physicians, pharmacists, and nurses can contribute.
Thanks,
Project Thailand

Gainesville Sun article on this year's trip

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100215/ARTICLES/2151008/1002/NEWS01?Title=UF-professor-med-students-to-help-kids-in-Thailand-

Sign-up here for our upcoming Project Thailand Golf Tournament!

When: Saturday, January 30, 12:00 PM start

Where: Haile Plantation Golf and Country Club

Registration: click here

Would you like to be a sponsor? Learn more about how you can help. Sponsorship packages are listed here.

Project Thailand 2010

This past spring a group of doctors, nurses and medical students at the University of Florida traveled to Chiang Rai, Thailand to provide care to orphaned children of the Akha tribe. As students at the University of Florida College of Medicine, we are excited for the chance to return once more to provide medical care to the people of Chiang Rai. We expect this year’s trip to be bigger and better than last year’s as we will be increasing the number of students and faculty who will be making the trek.

This coming March, we will be providing health care to 400 orphaned children of Akha ethnicity. These Akha children are stateless refugees, as they are not recognized as Thai or Chinese citizens. Their only medical care comes from visiting groups. This year will be the fifth year UF physicians have made this volunteer trip, and the second time medical students will join the effort. We will set up clinic, where we will provide free basic medical care, including physicals, immunizations, vitamins, and medications. Last year we were able to create an electronic medical record for each of the children and we will be expanding upon this record during our upcoming trip.

We will also be setting up clinics in the surrounding villages of Chiang Rai and providing care for others within the community. This will require more supplies and organization but will provide us with the opportunity to expand our area of outreach.

Like the UF physicians, we medical students are providing our own funds to travel to Thailand. We are also responsible for raising enough money to assist in covering the cost of supplies, immunizations, and medications. As you can imagine, we have a great challenge ahead of us to raise enough funds to support the plans we have for this year’s trip. We have fundraising projects planned but we also wanted to reach out to our friends and loved ones and open the door for you to support us as well.

Project Thailand represents a tremendous opportunity to serve some underserved children of Thailand. It also provides an unparalleled educational experience for us as medical students interested in international community medicine. To see photos from previous years, please visit http://emergency.med.ufl.edu/community_service.shtml or scroll through last year's blog posts.